Looking for something specific. What do you recommend? - Page 6

>Buckeye - I have the 80lb - 18 inch beagle you were lookin for ....
>wont hunt...wont do much of anything cause of his major confirmation
>flaws but for a few pennies he is all yours!

>And its really all about you and what you want not what is good for the
>dog and or its health in the long run.
>All that weight on a short back but hey....As long as the customer is
>happy everyone is happy!

Is that the most intelligent comment you could possibly think of? Apparently so.

In case you missed it -- already posted repeatedly -- good health was a basic requirement of mine and I have seen big, healthy dogs. In case you also missed it, there are plenty of "standard"-sized GSDs with all kinds of health problems. So that is nothing special, there.

But, if you can't say something intelligent, don't let that stop you from posting. You haven't so far.

It is Conformation NOT Confirmation !!!!  

Then surely you must realize that all those standards for "working" dogs (i.e., dogs that are trained to jump over a fence) mean just about nothing to them, don't you? In short, your beloved "standards" are of no interest or use to them. Right?

Bullpuckies.

Conformation in standard is designed to best allow the animal to comfortably do the job they are asked to do.  It's that way across all the breeds.  Is it perfect -no, have some traits been 'commercialized' to the point of grotesque, yes.

But for a working dog being asked to jump a hurdle or out of a squad car or across a vehicle after a fleeing perp, the conformation to safely get across that obstacle is vital.

A large dog means a large amount of weight coming down on bones and joints, repetatively.  Their own weight can hurt them, where as a medium built dog is less likely to suffer such concussive injuries because they are not carrying excessive weight. 

Malamutes, Danes, St. Bernards they are big dogs designed to pull, not go up and over obstacles, just like a GSD is not designed for the straight up and down springboard action you see from a collie.

I would think that be comfortable and uninjured is useful to any creature.

Now you've made your outlook on GSD standard pretty clear here, you've said what you're looking for and some people who have experience with such qualities have point out directions for you to follow.  You want to look into the Shiloh shepherd or the King shepherd, not a working GSD or a showline GSD.  Fine, dandy there are breeders of Shilohs and Kings waiting to embrace you with dogs to chose from.

If you want vanilla ice cream, get vanilla.  If you want chocolate ice cream, get chocolate but stop going on about wanting a tub of chocolate ice cream to taste like vanilla.

RLHAR

Well, if that is what he wants, who are we to condemn him ??   I looked on the Legacy site, and the dogs were absolutely beautiful.  I personally wouldn't want a dog that large, but some people do.   Whatever.........

The thing is Maggie he launched the conversation with passive aggressive language that wasn't necessary.  If he'd just explained that he was interested in a big, impressive pet and wasn't looking to pursue sport or work with the dog that would have been fine.

However, his entire tone has been disrespectful and rude and with this board that tends to be the tone you get back. 

I also like very large GSDs, and I don't much care if they are trained to leap over walls and bite people with big puffy arms. Go figure.

There was no need for a comment like that straight out of the gate.  No one had ever said he MUST HAVE A TO STANDARD DOG SO HE CAN DO SPORT yet he's already being disrespectful about one of the sports many people on this board do with their dogs.

Is the sport the be all and end all of the GSD, no it absolutely is not but it is followed by a good portion of folks who comment on this board so why alienate those folks from the very get go?

Red Sable - There are a few Kennels that work together (according to the Link below).

www.largegermanshepherds.com/

Wdog86, You wrote several noteworthy comments:
First:
Maybe you could use a few lessons in not acting like an asshole and having respect for people you never met and know nothing about. Just a suggestion.

Actually, I don't necessarily disagree with this comment, it did give me a laugh.  Thanks for that suggestion.  I don't think you would be the one to give me the lessons, but perhaps you'd be kind enough to refer me to the charm school that you went to. 



And anyone who wants anything different is an evil heretic. Right? And that dogmatic point of view is everyone else's problem, not yours. Right?

What's up with all of the religious analogies?  Let's keep the topic on dogs and not go to politics or religion, we'll just get all of the OT posters jumping in thinking this thread is for them.  For the record as it has been pointed out several times it is called a "Breed Standard."  So, it's not my point of view it is the standard set for the breed.  I love the GSD and respect people who take care to preserve the breed.


>Because you've seen people that are impressed by an over
>sized dog shows their ignorance for the breed as well.

Actually, I don't think you have ever met any of those people and don't have a clue what they know. Therefore, any speaking you do about people you never even met is necessarily a product of complete ignorance.

I have met hundreds of the people that you describe over the years.  They look at an 85lb male GSD, who is athletic, lean and muscular and bred to the standard asay: "wow, your dog is small.  My friend Joe has a German Shepherd that is 120lbs and 29" tall"  In the past (believe it or not) I have been very polite  these ignorant people, realizing they just don't know what a GSD is supposed to be.  Now, I just tell them that Joe should put his dog on a diet.  I just realized we must have met in the past, your one of those people.

Just so you know I don't like over angulated GSD's either.  They are a problem for the breed also. 

I know that you don't care about the working ability of the GSD but some of us do.  I couldn't do my job very well with one of your over sized furry door mats.  I am very thankful for the breeders that adhere to the standards and breed dogs with working ability.  My dog jumps fences, chases criminals and will even bite a bad guy, with or without a big puffy arm. 

Here's his pedigree and by the way he's only 85lbs of muscle and runs about 32 mph.

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/469183.html

He's exactly what I was looking for. 

JMO,

Jim

Jim, I wasn't going to post on this topic again, but I was thinking exactly what you said...Police dogs that big wouldn't be very effective.  Also, I was thinking...I visited the link given above, largegermanshepherds.com/ and looked at the sites linked there...

I was wondering how, if you advertized that your 120 pound dogs were good for SAR, etc...you would go about that.  I know that in some types of SAR training, the handler has to be able to rappel down a cliff or building with his or her dogs strapped to them, and I wonder how a person would handle rappeling with a huge dog, along with whatever other gear they had.

But wdog wasn't looking for a dog to do any of this, anyway.

He or she is looking for a mini horse in GSD clothing.  I looked at a lot of those dogs, and although I did see some that I thought were beautiful, there were too many with loose lips, strange ears (rounded, or weak looking).  Also, due to their huge sizes, they also tended to look a bit like a giant malamute in expression, and not entirely GSD, although I know they are purebred.

These big dogs just don't suit my taste. 

And by the way, Wdog...I am not a Schutzhund trainer or handler, nor am I a police officer, like Slamdunc.  I'm not a breeder, a SAR handler, tracking expert, or pet therapy handler.  I am just a pet owner, with an 11 week old GSD I got from Montana GSD rescue about five days ago, having had another GSD some years ago.  My dog is a pet, not a working dog, although I would like to title her in tracking, despite her lack of registration.  But even as a pet owner, I respect the standard that created the GSD, for it is the reason this glorious breed exists, and I will not to support breeders who do not see a reason for the standard. 

If everyone bred just what they liked, and the hell with the standard, there would be no recognizable dog breeds today, just a bunch of non-descript mutts.  I admire the breed for what it is, and not the variations created by people who look only for one aspect of a dog.  And I agree with both you and Slamdunc about the over angulation...It is a problem.  But several of those oversized GSD are built like Great Pyrenees in the rears, and that's a bit steep for a herding dog, regardless of whether it's holding down your couch or herding sheep.  Just my opinion.  You'll do what you choose to do, and there will be those of us who admire the breed for all that it is, and not just size, who will do what we choose to do.

Crys